Group F
PREVIEW: All the teams in the group can still got through. Here's a list of who can go through & how:-
Paraguay will go through if they beat or draw with New Zealand
New Zealand will go through if they beat Paraguay & Italy lose
Italy will go through if they better New Zealand's result
Slovakia will go through if they beat Italy & New Zealand don't win against Paraguay
New Zealand 0 Paraguay 0
Not a great game at all, the first half was bad. Paraguay picked it up in the 2nd half and had plenty of free kicks to grab a winner. Paraguay finish top of the group while New Zealand finish 3rd on 3 points & go home without being defeated.
Slovakia 3 (Vittek 25, 73 Kopunek 89) Italy 2 (Di Natale 81, Quagliarella 92)
Slovakia were the better side in the 1st half and took the lead on 25 minutes when Daniele De Rossi's misplaced pass fell to Marek Hamsik who slipped in Robert Vittek who slid his effort past Marchetti in the Italian goal.
Italy made 2 changes at half time then minutes into the 2nd half Andrea Pirlo was brought by Marcelo Lippi. Italy were starting to get chaces and maybe equalise but that was not in the script.
A Slovakian corner which was cleared was put back into the box by Hamsik, Vittek stole a march on Chiellini and put the jabulani in at the near post. Just as it looked like Slovakia were away and clear the were pegged back. A parried shot by Mucha was slid home by Antonio Di Natale. Italy were back in it. Minutes later Fabio Quagliarella thought he had equalised for the Italians but he was offside by the slightest of margins.
Slovakia went back two ahead a minute from time. After a smart throw in and the slow thinking Italian defence was their achilles. As Kamil Kopunek stole in on his World Cup debut and with his first touch chipped the ball over Marchetti. That made it 3-1 with not long to go.
The match had yet another twist as from outside the are Quagliarella who was calm, cool and collected chip the jabulani over Mucha in the Slovak goal from outside the area. Simone Pepe had a chance to level it late on but couldn't sort his feet out.
Group E
PREVIEW: With Holland already through they only need a point to win the group. It's between Japan & Denmark for the other qualifying spot. Here's how they can do it:-
Japan will go through if they draw or beat Denmark
Denmark will go through if they win against Japan
Japan 3 (Honda 17, Endo 30, Okazaki 87) Denmark (Tomasson 81)
Japan were by far the better side in the first half and two fantastic free kicks gave them a 2-0 lead at half time. Keisuke Honda lined up the free kick 30 yards out and proceeded to hit it over the wall, it dipped into the far corner of Sorenson's net. Yasuhito Endo made it two with his curled right-footed shot round the wall and into the corner of Sorenson's goal.
Jon Dahl Tomasson was able to pull a goal back for the Danes, he tucked home the rebound after his penalty was saved.
Honda's wonderful foot work got him in the box and put in Shinji Okazaki who rolled the jabulani into the empty net.
Cameroon 1 (Eto'o penalty 65) Holland 2 (Van Persie 36, Huntelaar 83)
This game really meant nothing but it was Holland who had more chances and they took the lead when Robin Van Persie got into the box after one-two with Rafael Van Der Vaart, he was able to slot the shot past the keeper. Samuel Eto'o equalised from the spot after Van Der Vaart had his arm up in the wall for a Cameroon freekick. Seven minutes from time, Klaas Jan Huntelaar struck the ball into an empty net from an awkward angle. That was after Arjen Robben cut inside and thumped his shot against the post.
